Nagele Revisited: A Modernistic Village in the Polder

The village of Nagele, the Netherlands, is a striking example of postwar construction: A new town built on reclaimed land, it was conceived by architects and designers including Aldo van Eyck, Gerrit Rietveld and Mien Ruys as a home for agricultural workers and their families. But how durable is a community designed in one fell swoop? The photographers Cary Markerink and Theo Baart have been following the changes in Nagele since 1984 and wondering about which factors are important for longer-term success. Their images capture the ways in which a new village has developed during an era of social and economic transformation, adapted or altered to rely on the support of residents old and new. How much can Nagele change without departing from its original design? And, more generally speaking, does establishing new villages contribute to rural life? Baart and Markerink's photographs are accompanied by a text by Warna Oosterbaan.